Jews in Congress Vote Liberal

Four of the seven Jews in the Senate and 22 of the 28 Jewish members of the House can be considered liberals, according to Americans for Democratic Action.

The liberal ADA ranked the members of Congress by how they voted in 1987 on 20 key issues in the Senate and 25 in the House. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) voted 100 percent for what the ADA considers liberal positions, while those voting the most conservative, 0 percent, were Sens. Chic Hecht (R-Nev.) and Willis Gradison (R-Ohio).

Two other Jews in the House voted less than 50 percent for liberal positions: Rep. Rep. John Miller (R-Wash.), 48 percent, and Rep. Ben Erdreich (D-Ala.), 40.

“The Jewish members of Congress have traditionally reflected the liberalism of the overall community, and 1987 was no exception,” said Marc Pearl, the ADA’s national director.

Pearl, the former Washington representative of the American Jewish Congress, noted that while the average score in the House was 51 percent liberal in 1987, the average for Jewish members was “an astounding 81 percent.”

In the Senate, the average score for the Jewish members was 59 percent, compared to 53 percent for the overall Senate.